


Sweet apologies

by Sneezysoul



Category: A Way Out (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, apologies are made, this happens post-game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-08 11:21:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18622321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sneezysoul/pseuds/Sneezysoul
Summary: “I really do want to make it up to you,” Vincent says, nearly pleading, “you’re my friend...”Leo hums as if disinterested, but Vincent knows he’s all ears. The stage is Vincent’s, and whether or not he’s a good actor is entirely up to Leo.Though....perhaps Vincent needed to stop acting.





	Sweet apologies

**Author's Note:**

> I got a cute story prompt from my favorite human being, Cave (Tigerclawblues). 
> 
> I wrote this all within like 2 hours between other things.  
> It was fun! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

He’d meant to aim to kill.

But in the end, all he could think about was how much this man _meant_ to him. Will always mean to him.

He shot the man point-blank in the leg.

The doctors tell him (after he’d shown up with a badge, of course) that he had shattered Leo’s knee to the point they’d have to replace it almost entirely soon or it’d have to be amputated. Sadly, Leo didn’t have insurance, and Linda wasn’t going to answer Vincent when he’d called to ask about it.

It was obvious they didn’t have the money.

And it was also obvious that Leo asked the nurses to keep him away from visiting.

Vincent tries not to tighten his hands around the small platter he held; he can easily sneak by the nurses, but just the thought of Leo going that extra bit to keep him away.....

It hurt. They’d been through so much within the past week. They’ve both saved each other so many times, held each other, talked....it hurt to think Leo was willing to toss him away.

Though he did deserve it. Leo must have felt ten times worse back when they stepped off the plane.

The first look that came across his face.....Vincent would never be able to forgive himself. He’d led Leo on all that time. Leo must have felt like Vincent tore the rug out from under his feet.

And then the rage....Leo was hurt, Vincent could tell, and yet Vincent still ran after him. Vincent still fought him on that roof.

Not one apology had come out of his mouth; he’d choked every time he tried.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he treks onward down the hallway. The white of the hospital always made him feel sick in a way no other setting could.

He’d told the nurses he was an investigator who wanted to interrogate a man by the name of Leo Caruso, and that he would be quiet as a mouse, no harm done.

Oh, also that he had cake.

Chocolate cake, to be precise. He’d made it himself late last night. He’d been worried sick about Leo after being told he wasn’t allowed a visit to his room yesterday. Leo wasn’t usually one to hide away, as far as he knew. The man was always up for confrontation.

Vincent sighs through his nose. He wished he had that kind of courage. He felt a strong urge to turn around and go home. He’s sure his new ex, Carol, would appreciate a somewhat haphazardly made cake as well.

He didn’t even know _how_ to make cake. He sure hopes the recipe he’d pulled out of Carol’s old cookbook was as good as it sounded.

Really, the cake was an afterthought. He hadn’t meant to make it for himself. Or anyone, really. He just made it with little to no reason, and he didn’t have a good reason for his sudden baking madness until he was putting the icing on.

The thought he’d had at the time was ‘you know who’d like baking? Leo. Leo would love this part, too.’

And man, if the realization that he’d most likely never see Leo again after everything they’d been through wasn’t enough to send a few accidental globs of chocolate icing to the floor, then the thought of Leo forever hating him and/or taking some kind of revenge on him later on sure did the trick.

His kitchen was still a mess, he remembers. He’d fell asleep on his recliner for a few hours before his alarm broke whatever rest he could’ve gotten.

He didn’t even need an alarm today, but he’d forgotten to turn it off last night when he’d come home from sending in his reports. He left out so many details of what happened within the past week, and it took everything in him to ignore the urge to bring it up to his chief.

His chief didn’t like Leo one bit. Vincent wasn’t sure how to tell the man, let alone convince the man, about all the good Leo had done.

He planned to, of course, but the words haven’t come to him yet. He had to think it over for a while and find a good way to confront this with as little repercussions as possible.

The room nears him, the numbers looking worn from age, but not enough that the staff has decided it’s in need of replacing yet. Glancing through the small window as he nears, he can just barely make out the form sitting on the bed. It makes his chest tighten; he’d put that man there.

He could have also put that man in a grave, so really, perhaps this wasn’t such a bad scenario, right?

He knocks on the door lightly, balancing the platter with his other hand, before pushing the door open and making his way into the room.

The heart monitor was on, and it took Vincent an extra second the realize that the leg wasn’t the only thing he’d harmed that night.

God....he wish he could’ve taken it all back.

But he was cornered. Cornered by his own job, by his ex wife, by...everything. He didn’t know what to do.

“The fuck’re you doing here?” The man on the bed spits out, reaching out to the nurse button as quickly as his injured body would allow.

His bed was pulled up enough so he could sit up, and the needles and cords stuck to him were a sad sight; Vincent knew Leo hated needles.

“I wanted to visit you.” Vincent replies. He sets the platter on a little cart nearest the bed, but not close enough for Leo to reach, not yet anyway.

Leo scowls at him as he takes a seat, “you’re lucky I don’t bounce up from this bed and punch you a new one.”

Vincent remains silent.

“Why’re you here? Haven’t you done enough already?” Leo continues, unhindered by the cop’s silence, “had to come and see what you did, is that it? Does it make you fucking happy?”

If Vincent were younger by, say, about a week or so, he would have risen to the challenge Leo was barking out. He would have never seen the tears in the other man’s eyes, threatening to escape.

Or the way his throat bobbed after he spoke. The way his free hand clutched at the sheets in front of him like a lifeline.

It _hurt_. Though Vincent isn’t sure who hurt the most. He sure hopes it’s himself, but he knew who’d really taken the brunt of it all.

“No.” Vincent answers simply, unsure if he could trust his own voice at the moment.

He was so, so glad Leo was alive.

But....oh, what had Vincent _done_?

“Leave.” Leo says, before turning his head away from the other man.

It was silly, but Vincent still hurt from the movement. Leo....this was Leo at his most vulnerable. Not the Leo, who was afraid of heights, or the Leo who knocked a guard out with one punch....this was Leo....hurt.

And Vincent was the man to bring this man down.

“I....” Vincent sighs, rubbing his hands down his face for a moment, working up the courage to say what he’d thought about all night, “I never got to apologize.”

Leo doesn’t move. His fingers loosen on the sheets before going back to their once-tight hold were the only reaction. His other hand no longer brushes against the button, but Vincent knew the threat was there that Leo would eventually push it.

He could hear him, and that’s all Vincent needed right now.

“I messed things up.” Vincent admits, “I want to set things right.”

“I said,” Leo pauses, glancing back to the other man, “haven’t you done enough? Listen....just go. I don’t want to see you. You did your job.” he waves the hand that isn’t connected to machines at him as if to shoo him out. “Bye.”

“- I’m paying your hospital bills.” Vincent quickly says, “You’ll get that new knee and you’ll walk out of here.”

Leo frowns, “Yeah...and into jail. The fuck you take me for?”

“I’ll talk to the chief! We can figure a way to lessen your time -”

“Lessen my time?” Leo says, “how about you just throw me into a volcano! Ain’t no way I’ll be in jail, man! Harvey’s got guys everywhere!”

“If things go okay I can convince the chief to give you bail!”

“- So what, you’re going to lie to him? Is that your convincing?”

Vincent doesn’t respond in time.

“Like you’ve always done? - Man, I don’t even know you anymore! I thought I did!” Leo takes that time to breathe, his heart monitor bleeping just a bit more than average.

Vincent clears his throat, “C’mon....I didn’t lie about _everything_ -”

“- Sure felt like it.”

They both fall into a quiet at that. Leo spending it calming himself down and Vincent using the spare seconds to think of ways to fix this mess.

What was with him and making messes? He always left them until it was far too late.

Vincent sighs through his nose again, sitting upright in his chair, his back giving a slight crackle in protest.

“I’m...sorry.” Vincent says, the words feeling just a little foreign. How many fights had he had with his ex wife about how little he apologized? “I should have told you. At least while we were still in Mexico.”

“Should’a.” Leo repeats. His hands are no longer clutching the blanket, Vincent notes.

“I really do want to make it up to you,” Vincent says, nearly pleading, “you’re my friend...”

Leo hums as if disinterested, but Vincent knows he’s all ears. The stage is Vincent’s, and whether or not he’s a good actor is entirely up to Leo.

Though....perhaps Vincent needed to stop acting.

“I just....I had so much going on at the time. Emily was there, the police were hounding me as much as they were you, and....” Vincent tries explaining, only to catch himself from continuing down that path, “and I messed up. Badly. Please let me make it up to you. Please....let me be your friend again.”

‘Let me be yours again’, he almost wants to tack on, but isn’t sure how well that’d be taken.

Carol had found out just how much Vincent cared for Leo around the time they agreed to sign the divorce papers. Vincent had one too many while he packed up his few belongings and blurted it out one morning.

She was fine with it, of course, but she’d made him promise her that he would actually fight to be with Leo. She didn’t love him as a husband anymore, but Carol knew how to reach Vincent.

It hurt when she said it. He knew he did her badly throughout these years, digging himself into his job. He also knew that in a certain way, Carol forgave him.

He....wanted to do this right. And boy, was he doing it just awful up to this point.

The silence is calm between them, and for Vincent it felt tense. He wanted Leo to say something. Anything. Leo was act first, think later. But this right now? Leo was.....actually thinking first.

Vincent wasn’t sure if he should be scared of the answer he’d get or not.

He rubs the sweat off his palms on his pants, nervous.

Leo fiddles with the sheet over him, glancing to his leg and then back to Vincent, still in thought. His fingers pick at a stray string that’d come undone.

“Would you tell me about you?” Leo says slowly, as if he weren’t sure Vincent would like such a question, “the _real_ you? - Not some phony prick.”

Vincent breathes in a deep breath; that was....well.....

He could do this. He’d do things right this time, and if it meant this, he had all the time in the world for it.

His eyes catch the platter just as he’s opening his mouth to reply.

He slowly grins and stands, walking over to the cart and pushing it to the bed, “well....the real me made this cake for you last night.” He takes the cover off, revealing the cake in question, “it’s good, promise.”

Leo looks like he couldn’t find the words as Vincent used the plastic knife he’d packed to cut him a slice. Vincent had brought a plastic fork and a paper plate over from the cafeteria so they wouldn’t have to call in a nurse for said items.

He places the slice on the plate and stabs the fork into the top of it before handing it over to the other man.

“You really made this?” Leo asks, taking the plate and inspecting it in surprise.

“Sure did.” Vincent practically chirps. He was a bit proud of how it came out, despite the mess it’d made. He puts the cover back on to keep it fresh. Maybe the nurses would allow him to leave the cake here so Leo can have something better than subpar hospital food.

Though after being in prison for about half a year, Leo might think hospital food is actually good.

Leo hums in reply, taking a small bite.

“Hey,” he says as Vincent is putting the plastic knife in the trash, “this is actually pretty good.”

Vincent chuckles, “glad to know! Took a few hours.”

“For real?” Leo smirks.

“I’m not a baker.” Vincent replies, going to take his seat next to the bed again.

Looking over Leo was a little hard; the man had bandages and wires and looked a little out of it. Though....perhaps they had to give him something for the pain in his leg. They hadn’t been able to get to it other than to stop the bleeding. Vincent suspects they’ll let it heal up a bit before doing anything dangerous.

Leo might not like that wait, but....it seemed necessary.

Vincent really wanted Leo to walk out of here with him. Even with crutches, just knowing Leo didn’t lose a limb because of him would be okay.

Leo holds out the piece on his fork to Vincent, “ya gotta try this shit out, man. Really good cake.”

Vincent stutters around for an answer to that, “from your fork? I could just....grab one from the cafeteria.”

“What, do I have cooties now?” Leo says, going to shrug a shoulder, only to stop with a wince. He slowly shakes to fork at him, “C’mon man.”

Vincent chuckles, “always so stubborn.”

He takes the bite, and surprisingly, yeah, that was a pretty damn good cake.

He says so, earning a laugh from Leo, “you didn’t even try it out?”

“I was busy.” Vincent smiles.

“Doing what, making a mess? Twenty bucks said you made a mess.”

“You wouldn’t even know if I made a mess.” Vincent says, “I could lie about it and win the bet.”

Leo huffs, digging the fork into the slice, “Aren’t you done lying, Vince? At least admit it.”

“Alright, fine. I made a mess. The biggest mess I’ve ever made.” Vincent admits, “but I’ll fix it. It’s what I do.”

“Sure.” Leo takes another bite, “anyway, you were going to tell me something?”

“Oh.”

Leo hums, “Uh huh?”

“Yeah. Right. The real me.”

“We’ve got some time, man.” Leo shifts his gaze back down to his leg, “I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

Vincent smiles, exhaling a long breath.

This will take a while, but....

Really, he did have all the time. _They_ had all the time.

He’s going to fix this, fix them, fix everything.

And if he has to start with telling Leo all about the man he’d saved countless times, he can darn well do just that.

 


End file.
